


Argument the First: Magic

by little_abyss



Series: The Rubble of Empire [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: 5 Acts Meme, Beginnings, Developing Relationship, M/M, Religious Discussion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-18
Updated: 2015-04-18
Packaged: 2018-03-23 14:11:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3771193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/little_abyss/pseuds/little_abyss
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five times the Iron Bull and Dorian have a lot to talk about, and one time... they don't.  The first 'discussion' is about the treatment of mages under the Qun.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Argument the First: Magic

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dichotomous_Dragon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dichotomous_Dragon/gifts).



> Dichotomous_Dragon, you're evil - but in a good way. Thanks for the inspiration to write one of these 5-1 things, they're *super* entrancing; just like your writing. <3

It is finally evening after a long day.  The small party have been lead in circles over the hills and valleys of the Hinterlands and the Iron Bull smiles wryly when he considers that the Herald of Andraste may be finding her way in both the literal and figurative sense.

He is roused from his musing by a sharp sigh from across the fire.  Dorian slams the book he has been reading shut and throws it backward onto his bedroll.  Bull hasn’t had much time on combat duty with the mage, only hearing a little around Haven about the man, the whispers about him behind his back. He seems to talk with the rebel mages quite frequently, often in animated discussions. The Bull has also observed some frank and admiring stares directed at the Tevene. Dorian seems to laugh easily, but there is a knife edge of something the Bull cannot place to it. That something is like a loose tooth to the Bull; he can’t stop his mind from analysing it, poking it, trying to understand it better.

The wind howls through the plains, cresting the ridge they are encamped on.  It blows the flames so that the sparks swirl around dangerously. Dorian looks at Bull, reflection of the fire burning brightly in his eyes.  He sets his jaw and asks, polite but challenging, “Do you mind if I ask you something?”

Bull shrugs, “Go ahead.”

“What does the Qun say about mages?  To make you people think they are so… wrong?”

Bull considers carefully, wondering if the Tevene is trying to bait him into an argument.  “The Qun doesn’t consider them wrong.  It considers them highly honoured - any individual who strives for the good of the whole while under duress is truly selfless.”

“And yet you _honour_ these selfless individuals by collaring them, ripping their tongues out if they perform forbidden magic, completely divorcing them from anything which makes them people.”  He snorts, “Some kind of honour.”

“You’d keep a sword in its sheath, wouldn’t you?” Bull asks, keeping his voice pitched low and easy.  He wonders where Dorian’s fury has come from.  “You wouldn’t give it to a kid?  You’d take it away from someone who would hurt themselves or another with it?  Magic’s the same.”

“But mages are not.  I’m not a sword, I’m a person.  I have feelings, needs…”

“Not under the Qun, you’re not.  If you don’t serve the body, then you’ll damage it.  Like a rogue cell.  Cut it out, if you can’t control it.”  Bull shrugs again, keeping his expression blank.  He’s not looking for a fight, but he wants to be sure that Dorian understands his position.  “And look; I’m not about to try and convert you.  That’s not my job.  I might be part of the Ariqun, but I’m not a priest.”

Dorian opens his mouth to reply, bringing a finger up to help make his point, and then Varric cries out over the howl of the wind, “Hey, Sparkler!  Help me with this fucking canvas!  It’s gonna blow away, if we don’t get it tied down!”

And Dorian gets up and goes, but his words _I’m not a sword, I’m a person_ keep curling around Bull’s heart. 


End file.
